Florentine Diamond
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Weight | 137.27 carats (27.454 g)[1] |
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Color | Light yellow in colour with very slight green overtones |
Cut | Nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut |
Country of origin | India |
The Florentine Diamond is a lost diamond of Indian origin. It is light yellow in colour with very slight green overtones. It is cut in the form of an irregular (although very intricate) nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut, with a weight of 137.27 carats (27.454 g). The stone is also known as the Tuscan, the Tuscany Diamond, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Austrian Diamond, Austrian Yellow Diamond, and the Dufner Diamond.[2]
History
The stone's origins are disputed. Reportedly, it has been cut by
Another version of the stone's early history is that the rough stone was acquired in the late 16th century from the King of
Duke Ferdinand's son,
Documented history begins when
. At the time, it was valued at $750,000.The diamond was set in a hat aigrette and displayed together with other crown jewels in the Imperial Treasury in display case XIII. In 1865, the diamond's weight and specificities were properly documented by Dr. Moritz Hoernes, head of the Imperial and Royal Court Mineral Cabinet. A plaster cast was also made. A rhinestone model was made at L. Saemann in Paris, with great care taken that the colour tone of the glass replica corresponded as closely as possible to the original stone. The colour of the Florentine was described as "wine mixed tenfold with water". This historic copy is kept at the Natural History Museum, Vienna.[5]
After the fall of the Austrian Empire after World War I, the stone by order of Emperor Charles I of Austria was removed from the Imperial Treasury and taken with him into exile.[6] The stone was stolen some time after 1918 by a person close to the Imperial family and taken to South America with other gems of the Crown Jewels. After this, it was rumoured that the diamond was brought into the United States in the 1920s and was recut and sold.
The Florentine jeweller Paolo Penko recreated the diamond with
In literature
The Florentine Diamond plays a central role in Dan Hanel’s 2015 novel “In The Shadow of Diablo: Death at the Healing Waters“, Amy Meyerson's 2020 novel The Imperfects, the 2021 novel The Mists of Morne by Justin B. Hodder, as well as the 2022 novel Der rote Diamant (The Red Diamond) by Thomas Hürlimann.
See also
References
- ^ McNearny, Allison (June 5, 2016). "The 137-Carat Diamond Lost Forever". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ISBN 978-3662042885. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ The Diamond Invention. Chapter 11 by Edward Jay Epstein
- ^ Burns, Walter (February 1923). "The Diamond and its Bloody Story". Popular Science. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Florentiner - Glasreplik eines verschollenen Diamanten Objekt - NHM Wien".
- ISBN 978-1852855499. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "Il Fiorentino. Il Gran Diamante di Toscana - Paolo Penko". 27 November 2021.
Further reading
- Shipley, Robert M. (1936). Important Diamonds of the World, pp. 15–18. Gemological Institute of America, USA, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 1936) DIE DIE DIE
External links
Media related to Florentine Diamond at Wikimedia Commons